Exploration firm claims to have sighted MH370 wreckage

"We're not trying to say that it definitely is MH370. However, it is a lead we feel should be followed up," Pope added.

New York pilot Michael Hoebel, 60, believes that he has also found an image of the wreckage.

After spending hours looking at images on TomNod, a crowd-sourcing website that has been sharing online satellite imagery in the hope of finding clues, he found an image spotting debris he believes perfectly matched the dimensions of the missing plane.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday that the seabed search would be expanded to a much larger area and would involve commercial contractors specialised in deep ocean search and may take six to eight months if weather conditions permit.

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 would continue its mission in adjacent areas.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished mysteriously about an hour after taking off for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur shortly after midnight March 8.

The Boeing 777-200ER was scheduled to land in Beijing the same morning. The 227 passengers on board included five Indians, 154 Chinese and 38 Malaysians.